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Royal Wedding

Play trailer Poster for Royal Wedding 1951 1h 32m Musical Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
American sibling song-and-dance team Tom (Fred Astaire) and Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell) are in London in 1947, when all of England is in a tizzy over the impending nuptials of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Ellen falls head over heels for the dashing Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford), and Tom becomes equally smitten with the elegant Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill). The film features one of Astaire's most legendary dance performances, dancing across the ceiling of a hotel room.
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Royal Wedding

Royal Wedding

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Critics Consensus

Vintage MGM musical stuff, characterized by Stanley Donen's fleet direction and some amazing dance performances from star Fred Astaire.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Nov 14, 2016
Almost wall-to-wall dancing, with a vengeance. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety Aug 6, 2008
This is an engaging concoction of songs and dances in a standard musical framework, brightly dressed in color to show off its physical attributes. Go to Full Review Geoff Andrew Time Out Jun 24, 2006
A pleasant enough score by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, helped out by Donen's stylish direction. Go to Full Review Nathanael Hood The Retro Set Dec 29, 2018
6/10
...for just a moment in Stanley Donen's Royal Wedding we believe that love can make us weightless. Go to Full Review Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy Jul 5, 2014
6/10
It looks like a million bucks, and it's easy to like, and for [producer Arthur] Freed, that was what mattered. Go to Full Review TV Guide Apr 4, 2012
4/4
When all is said and done, Stanley Donen's first solo directorial assignment, after his work with Gene Kelly, is a lovely bit of frou-frou. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Kalissa H @kali_416 Feb 22, 2025 Plenty of dance scenes and some cool ceiling dancing. See more Steve D @RT35616104 Jun 24, 2023 Thinner than even these kinds of films normally are. See more CodyZamboni @CodyZamboni Jun 6, 2023 Film is charming, amusing, with three standout musical highlights. with the Astaire's gravity defying ceiling dance being the best. Both stars shine, but the supporting cast are not as charismatic. Jane Powell is very attractive and radiant, especially in Technicolor. See more May 1, 2020 The plot is generic and uninteresting for the most part but the movie is saved by one fantastic dance by Fred Astaire. If you somehow didn't know it was coming like me, I won't spoil it for you here. See more Feb 13, 2019 Absolutely dreadful. These dancing guys were strange, to say the least. A 50 year old man with a 20 year old sister?? Really? I guess that's better than the typical treatment of them falling in love. Usually these tip toe men are dancing perverts on screen: attacking the youngest and best looking teenager they can find. However, Astaire is much better than Gene Kelly, who is self-absorbed and arrogant. Astaire seems to be a decent guy at least. As to the hyped "dancing on the ceiling"...are you kidding? This is another Hollywood trick that anyone could do. No talent required. Why hype this as something great and special? 1951 was not that backward. As to Astaire's choices of clothing, let's all just groan. Like Gene Kelly, he is hopelessly unstylish and ridiculous in attire. Jane Powell is gorgeous and has class and talent. She is the star of this film. See more Thomas M @TMProofreader Feb 2, 2019 The best musical romance movie ever made! See more Read all reviews
Royal Wedding

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Cast & Crew

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Stanley Donen

Director

Fred Astaire

Tom Bowen

Jane Powell

Ellen Bowen

Peter Lawford

Lord John Brindale

Sarah Churchill

Anne Ashmond

Keenan Wynn

Irving Klinger

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Royal Wedding

Royal Wedding (1951) Royal Wedding (1951) Royal Wedding (1951) Royal Wedding (1951) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis American sibling song-and-dance team Tom (Fred Astaire) and Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell) are in London in 1947, when all of England is in a tizzy over the impending nuptials of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Ellen falls head over heels for the dashing Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford), and Tom becomes equally smitten with the elegant Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill). The film features one of Astaire's most legendary dance performances, dancing across the ceiling of a hotel room.
Director
Stanley Donen
Producer
Arthur Freed
Screenwriter
Alan Jay Lerner, Alan Jay Lerner
Distributor
MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Take 2 Video, Madacy Entertainment Group Inc. [us], Bridgestone Multimedia, UAV Entertainment, Hollywood Classics, Reel Media International [us]
Production Co
Loew's Inc., Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre
Musical
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 23, 1951, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 2, 2014
Runtime
1h 32m
Sound Mix
Mono
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